Chair structure



' Dec. 12, 1933.

F. H. WAGGONER Er AL 1,938,879

CHAIR STRUCTURE Filed'May 28, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l mull 7 I wl flan/5'H. yggydlwr 'KJOAII TI Jase 11M.

" Dec.-12, 1933.

F. H. WAGGONER Er AL Filed May 28, 1932 CHAIR STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 236 27 166 3 15 1f 76 76 J W Patented Dec. 12, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE CHAIR STRUCTURE Application May 28, 1932. Serial No. 614,980 8Claims. (Cl. 155-184) This invention relates to a chair structure, andhas to do primarily with a chair seat of the padded type which is soconstructed as to resemble a saddle seat in appearance and at the sametime possess the advantages of a padded seat.

As ordinarily made, saddle seats for chairs are constructed of wood soshaped as to produce the so-called saddle seat effect. While such seatsare usually attractive in appearance, they do not have the advantagesfrom the standpoint of the comfort of the user that are possessed by achair seat of the padded type. It is an object of this invention,therefore, to produce, in a chair seat, a saddle seat appearance withoutde- 16 tracting from the advantages of a padded seat, this object beingattained by utilizing a flexible bottom or base member having formingpads on the upper face thereof, suitably combined with padding materialand a wear resisting covering 29 of any desirable type. It is a furtherobject of the invention to provide a chair seat which resembles a saddleseat in appearance yet is sufliciently flexible to conform to aconsiderable extent to the bodily movements of the user of the chair. A

26 further object of the invention is the provision in a chair seat of aconstruction which, although not detracting from the appearance thereof,pre-' vents the 'seat from marring desks and other articles of furniturewith which the chair may be 80 used and with which it may come incontact. It

is a still further object of the invention to provide a chair seat whichis attractive in appear- .ance and at the same time one which isunusually comfortable for the user. Still other objects of theimprovement will be apparent from the following description, taken withthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved chair seat, with the baseand back partly broken away; I

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the improved seat, with parts thereof cut awayto show the interior construction;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the improvement;

Fig. ,4 is a front elevational view thereof;

Fig. 5 is a rear elevational view thereof;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view from front to rear through theimproved seat, taken on the line 6--6 of Fig. 2;

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are transverse sectional views taken on the lines 7-'7,88 and 9-9 respectively of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 10 is a sectional view of a portion of the 55 seat taken on theline 10-10 of Fig. 2.

The body or bottom portion of the improved seat comprises a base 10 madeof any suitable flexible material. although ply-wood has been found mostsatisfactory for this purpose. In plan, the base may be given any shapedesired, although 50 the outline shown in Fig. 2 has been foundadvantageous for use with revolving chairs of the typewriter type. Thebase portion is preferably so formed or shaped as to provide a plane,central section 11 of substantial width extending from the front to therear of the seat, and the marginal portions 12 formed in such a manneras to incline upwardly to a slight extent from the side edges of theplane, central section 11, as shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9.

In order that the effect or appearance of a saddle seat may be produced,a forming pad or roll 13 is secured along the outer edge of each of themarginal sections 12 as shown in Figs. 2, 'l and 9 of the drawings. Theforming pads 13 are ordinarily made from a strip 14 of felted burlap orsimilar material folded about a plurality of strands 15 of twisted hempor jute fiber, with the edges 16 and 17 of the strip stitched togetheras indicated at 18. The pads are secured to the base by means of smalltacks 19 driven through the stitched edges 16, 17 into the base. Aforming pad or roll-of this character possesses sufllcient flexibilityand resiliency for this purpose, and at the same time it is sufficientlyrigid to maintain the proper shape and, the attractive appearance of thefinished seat. The length of the strip of forming pad 13 utilized alongeach outer edge of the seat should be sufficient to produce whateversaddle effect may be desired, and it will be understood that the size ofthese forming pads, both the length and the transverse dimensions,should be such as to produce the desired effect in the particular chairseat under construction.

In addition to the forming pads 13 placed along the side edges of themarginal sections 12 of the base, it is desirable to utilize arelatively short length of forming pad 21 at the front of the seat,preferably centrally thereof, and extending from the front edge of thebase 10 backwardly along the center line thereof. The forming pad 21 isconstructed in a manner similar to the forming pads 13 heretoforedescribed, and may be secured to the bottom of the seat by small tacks22 extending through the stitched edges mm the base in a manner similarto that in which the forming pads 13 are secured to the outer edges ofthe base.

The base of the seat, with the forming pads thereon, is then coveredwith suitable padding material. Preferably the padding material utilizedwith the improvement disclosed herein comprises a layer of hair padding23 in contact with the base 10, with a layer of cotton 24 placed uponthe hair padding. This padding material covers the entire upper surfaceof the base, and preferably the layers of hair and cotton extend overthe centrally arranged forming pad 21, and the layer of cotton extendsthe marginal forming pads 13. After the forming pads and paddingmaterial have been secured upon the base of the seat, a covering 25 ofany suitable wear-resisting material is placed therebver and has itsedge turned downwardly beneath the edge of the base 10 and securedthereto by small tacks or other suitablemeans. An edging material 26 maybe secured beneath the edge of the base 10 so as to conceal the edge ofthe covering material and give a more finished appearance to the seat.Pref erably this edging material is of roll form and comprises a stripof material 27 similar to the covering material 25 folded around a cord28 of fiber or twisted paper, with the overlapping edges secured to theunder face of the base by means of tacks 29 as shown. If desired, theroll edging 26 may be so placed as to extend outwardly slightly beyondthe downwardly turned edge of the covering material 25 so as toconstitute a bumper for the chair and thus afford protection for thedownwardly turned edge of the covering material.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 6 of the drawings, the seat may bemountedupon a chair iron 30 of usual construction secured upon the upper end ofa spindle 31 adjustably supported in a base 32. A back 33 supported fromthe iron 30, may also be provided. In an improved seat of the characterdisclosed herein, it is preferable to utilize a chair iron having a pairof side frame members 34 rigidly secured thereto, each of these sideframe members having a pivotal connection 35 at its front end with asmall angular member 36 secured to the seat by means of a bolt 37extending through the base 10 and having a small piece 38 of canvas orburlap tacked over the head thereof to retain it in position before theseat is assembled upon the chair iron. Side frame members 39 arepivotally mounted at 40 at their inner ends to the forwardly extendingside members and have their rear ends pivotally mounted at 41 uponangular bracket members 42 secured to the lower face of the base 10 ofthe seat in a manner-similar to that in which the forward bracketmembers 36 are secured thereto. The particular, manner in which the ironis constructed forms no part of the present invention, the same beingdisclosed and claimed in William A. Sengpiel application Serial No.531,286, filed April 20, 1931.

It will be noted that in the construction disclosed herein thesupporting portions of the chair iron are secured to the base 10 atpoints spaced a substantial distance from the front and rear edges ofthe base, and at a substantial distance from the outer edges thereof.Preferably these points of contact between the chair iron and the baseare located adjacent the junctures of the central plane section 11 ofthe base and the upwardly inclined marginal sections 12. By supportingthe seat upon the iron in this manner the inherent flexibility of thebase portion of the seat permits the edges of the seat to benddownwardly, particularly the marginal sections 12 as shown by the dotand dash line position indicated in Fig. 7, and thus conform to thebodily movements of the user of the chair, the construction thusproducing a chair which is much more comfortable to the user than chairsof this general type heretofore known.

It will be noted furthermore that the forming pads 13 are of such lengthand preferably so arranged along the outer edges of the base portion 10that the front ends thereof terminate a substantial distance from thefront edge of the base portion, and these pads extend rearwardly,conforming to the outer edges of the base portion, and terminate asubstantial distance from each other, that is, near what may be regardedas the rear corners of the seat. This arrangement of the marginalforming pads provides a construction whereby the side edges of the chairseat possess sufficient body and rigidity to withstand long use andstill maintain the shape of the seat. By locating the forming pads 13 inthis manner, they serve to position the occupant of the chair withoutany effort upon the part of the occupant.

By terminating the rear ends of the forming pads 13 at the positions andin the manner heretofore described, a depressed portion 43 is producedat the rear edge of the upper face of the seat. This feature has beenfound to be of importance in that it adds to the comfort of the chairseat and is unusually effective in providing correct and easily attainedposture for the occupant.

The front ends of the forming pads 13, in conjunction with the formingpad 21 at the center of the front edge of the seat, produces along thefront edge of the finished seat the two depressed portions 44 located onopposite sides of the pad 21. These depressions likewise serve toproperly position the occupant on the chair and this position is easilymaintained during all ordinary movements of the occupant. In otherwords, when the improved seat is employed with a revolving type ofchair. all usual turning movements of the occupant are readilytransmitted to the chair seat thus obviating the objection to many chairseats heretofore known, wherein no effective means has been provided toprevent relative movement of the occupant with respect to the chair seatin the ordinary turning movements of the occupant.

While a preferred form of construction of the improvement has beendescribed herein and illustrated in the drawings, it will be understoodthat various changes may be made in the invention as it has beendisclosed so long as they do not depart from the improvement asparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention having thus been described, what it is desired to secureby United States Letters Patent is:

1. In a chair structure, a seat comprising a base, forming pads securedon the upper face-of said base adjacent the side edges thereof, aforming pad secured on the upper face of said base adjacent the centerof the front edge thereof and extending rearwardly from the front edge,padding material on said base between said forming pads, and a wearresisting cover on said padding material and having its edge secured tosaid base.

2. In a chair structure, a seat comprising a resilient ply-wood base,forming pads secured on the upper face of said base adjacent the sideedges thereof, a forming pad secured on the upper face of said baseadjacent the center of the front edge thereof andextendingrearwardly'from the front edge. padding material on said baseextending over said forming pads, and a'wear resisting cover on saidpadding material having its edge secured to the lower face of said base.

3. In a chair structure, a seat comprising a base formed to provide acentral section of substantial width and marginal sections inclinedupwardly from the side edges thereof, forming pads secured on the upperface of said base adjacent the side edges of the marginal sections, aforming pad secured on the upper face of said base adjacent the centerof the front edge thereofand extending rearwardly from the front edge,padding material on said base between said forming pads, and a wearresisting cover on said padding material having its edge secured to saidbase.

4. A saddle seat for a chair, comprising a resilient base shaped to forma plane, central section of substantial width extending from front torear and marginal sections inclined upwardly from the side edgesthereof, a forming pad secured to the upper face of each marginalsection adjacent the outer edge thereof, a forming pad secured on theupper face of the central section adjacent the front edge thereof andextending rearwardly from the front edge, padding material covering saidbase and extending over said forming pads, and a wear resisting cover onsaid padding material having its edge secured to the lower face of saidbase.

5. A saddle seat for a chair, comprising a resilient base shaped to forma central section of substantial width extending from front to rear andmarginal sections inclined upwardly from the side edges thereof, aforming pad secured on the upper face of the central section adjacentthe front edge thereof and extending rearwardly therefrom to producewith the marginal sections a saddle effect, padding material on theupper face of said base, and a wear resisting cover material securedover said padding material.

6. In a chair structure, a seat comprising a resilient base shaped toform a central section of substantial width extending from front to rearand marginal sections inclined upwardly from the side edges thereof,forming pads secured on the upper face of said base to produce a saddleeffect, padding material covering the upper face of said base, and awear resisting cover material secured over said padding material, incombination with supporting means contacting with and secured to saidbase adjacent the junctures of the central section and the marginalsections.

7. In a chair structure, a seat comprising a resilient base shaped toform a plane, central section of substantial width extending from frontto rear and marginal sections inclined upwardly from the side edgesthereof, supporting means secured thereto adjacent the juncture of thecentral section and the marginal sections, a forming pad secured on theupper face of each marginal section adjacent the outer edge thereof, aforming pad secured on the upper face of the central section adjacentthe front edge thereof and extending rearwardly from the front edge,padding material on said base between said forming pads, and a wearresisting cover on said padding material having its edge secured to saidbase.

8. In a chair structure,.a seat comprising a resilient ply-wood baseshaped to provide a plane, central section of substantial widthextending from front to rear and marginal sections inclined upwardlyfrom the side edges thereof, and having forming pads, padding materialand a wear resistant cover arranged thereon to provide a saddle seateffect, in combination with a support comprising a pair of rigid frontattaching members substantially spaced from the front edge of the base,and a pair of rigid rear attaching members substantially spaced from therear edge of the base, the respective members of each pair of attachingmembers being secured to the base adjacent the junctures of the centralsection and the respective marginal sections thereof.

FRANK H. WAGC-ONER. JOHN J. JOSEPH-S.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. l, 938, 879.

December 12, 1933.

FRANK H. WAGGONER, ET AL.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2,line 9, after "extends" insert the word over; and that the said LettersPatent shoiild be read with this correction therein that the same mayconform to the record oi the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 9th day of January, A. D. i934.

(Seal) F. M. Hopkins Acting Commissioner of menu.

